CAIRO—Egypt's ruling generals rebuffed calls to allow the elected Parliament to appoint a civilian cabinet, as thousands of antimilitary protesters took their demands for civilian governance directly to the gates of the Ministry of Defense.

Nothing better illustrated the turbulent state of civil-military relations during this period than the hostility on the part of the uniformed military toward President Bill Clinton, whose antimilitary stance as a young man during the Vietnam War years did not endear him to soldiers.

Stanford's is a telling episode: The chief obstacle to ROTC's expansion today is not antimilitary sentiment but a Pentagon that prefers to allocate its resources to surer recruiting prospects, primarily in the South and the Midwest.

While Mr. Okasha's show rarely dwells on political details, some antimilitary activists worry he could rally wide support to keep the military's privileged position when the draft constitution is put to a referendum this year.